North Carolina Widow Uses Handgun to Hold Burglar

One of my new favorite websites to be checked every day or two is GunsSaveLives.net[1] – Stories of Self-Defense, which aggregates the news accounts of citizens protecting themselves and their families using firearms.

Why doesn’t the NRA put together a video[3] of Second Amendment women who can express how firearms are used every day in the defense of families? They are missing a big opportunity.

A recent example of self-defense was Sue Johnson, a grey-haired widow in North Carolina who pulled a gun out of her pocket when a robber showed up at her door and held him until the sheriff arrived.

Bonus points: she took a gun safety course at her church. Another plus: nobody was harmed in the confrontation, a situation which often is not reflected in anti-gun rhetoric. We hear the horror stories ad nauseum, but not the many instances of successful self-defense[4].

CHEROKEE COUNTY, NC (WRCB) — A man, wanted in Georgia, returned to the scene of his crime only to find himself staring down the barrel of a gun.

The woman holding it: a retired widow who says she wasn’t letting the man who stole from her get away.

“Never did I feel scared,” Sue Johnson says. “I was prepared to take care of myself.”

Sue Johnson came home to find she had been robbed.

“I got in from church and there was a mess everywhere,” says Johnson.

But it wasn’t until two days later she came face to face with the man who stole a shot gun, cell phone and medication from her house.

“There was a knock on my door,” Johnson says. “He was standing there with about a three foot long stick.”

Sue says 26-year-old Nathaniel Leatherwood returned to apologize.

“So I just pulled my gun out of my pocket and said I’m calling the sheriff’s office,” Johnson explains. “They’re going to come pick you up. I’m not going to let this happen to an old, retired lady who lives alone.”

Sheriff Keith Lovin arrived on scene, relieved Sue was not harmed.

“I hugged her neck and told her she’s my hero,” says Sheriff Lovin.

Just a few weeks earlier, the sheriff taught a gun safety course at Sue’s church.